A contract between Island Health and a physician will begin in one of two ways:

A member of the medical staff or a medical staff group may contact a program area with a service proposal; or

A program area may identify the need for a service and seek out a medical staff member or a medical staff group.

Contract Process

After the need for a service has been confirmed, MSCM is contacted to assist in identifying possible funding sources, to discuss the contract terms and the identified services. When services and compensation have been identified, a contract is drafted and signed by the parties. If the contract is to be renewed, Island Health will either initiate the renewal or seek input from the contracting program.

Service & Sessional Contracts

Service and sessional contracts support the provision of clinical services throughout Island Health and are funded by the Ministry of Health, Alternative Payment Programs, and with approval, Island Health funding.

Service contracts are for agreed upon physician services and are paid on an FTE basis subject to the Physician Master Agreement (PMA) rates. Service contracts are used to provide dependable physician income in situations with low or variable patient volumes, or when the services to be provide are complex and time consuming and not well supported by fee-for-service. An example of a service contract is primary care services in rural communities such as Galiano Island, Cortes Island, etc.

Sessional contracts provide time-based funding for physician services where one session equals 3.5 hours. Sessional funding is often used when patient care is comparatively time-intensive. Sessional contracts are used extensively throughout Island Health to provide psychiatry services, rehabilitation services and GP oncology services to mention a few.

Questions arise regarding what rural funding is available to support rural physicians or the provision of specialist services in a rural community

Physician Master Agreement

The Physician Master Agreement sets out the relationship and economic arrangements between the government of British Columbia and the Doctors of BC. Island Health operationalized the PMA and the Alternative Payments Subsidiary Agreement (APSA) through Medical Staff Contract Management. The current agreement was signed in 2014 and runs until 2019.

If you are in urgent need of medical care, please call 911. If you require health care advice for a non-urgent concern, call HealthLink BC at 811.

TERRITORIAL ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

Before Canada and BC were formed, Indigenous peoples lived in balance and interconnectedness with the land and water in which the necessities of life are provided. Health disparities persist, which are due to the impacts of colonization and Indigenous specific racism. Healthy lands, healthy people. Island Health acknowledges and recognizes these homelands and the stewardship of Indigenous peoples of this land; it is with humility we continue to work toward building our relationship.